Gyms are like a wheel in the hamster cage. In the case of an emergency and you need to carry another human, can you do it? Will doing curls and running on a treadmill prepare you to do that? You might get muscles, you might get cardiac benefit, but will you be able swim a person to safety? What are you training for? Looks or functionality? Do you want to look fit or look strong or do you want to be strong? Humans can utilize emotions through movement. Humans can use adrenaline to make extremely important things happen. Are you training with adrenaline? Do you know what crossfit is? Do you know what movnat is? If you are sedentary and you want to realize your potential, start moving. Move like animals do. OK, start in a gym if you want. But, to really get functional, you will have to leave the gym. You will have to move like animals do. Run, jump, climb, wrestle, swim, crawl, and lift and throw.
Tree Climbing leads to strong and agile
I didn’t see any tools or machines…I just saw a tree. I didn’t see a pedometer. I didn’t see a treadmill. My body didn’t do a prescribed motion. I just saw a tree. I saw branches. I wondered if I could leap to the branch. Could I get both hands on the branch? Could I get my feet on the trunk and could I get on top of the branch? I tried a couple of times and I failed. I leapt and didn’t succeed. I tried again and again until I could reach and get a hold and move my body into the tree. I got a hold and then I had to move from under the branch to above the branch…swing from left to right until I could swing around and get an arm above the branch or up onto another. I swung and then got a hold. Then I was into the tree. Around the trunk and up again. Up as far as I could go and then back down the way I came. A jump to the ground and then backup again until I could do it with just a couple movements. Then, I sprinted to the next tree. This time a vault and then a climb.
Each tree is different. Each tree is not predictable, but my body is learning how to move from tree to tree. I know what I can reach. I know what is safe. At the same time, I am getting more and more fit. I am getting healthier and my body is getting to move in natural ways. Lifting weights has its place. It’s more of a restorative place…it’s not my end game. It’s a path to rehabilitation. Being able to move through natural terrain is my end game.
Movnat – doing the wilderness workout
I did this kind of a thing yesterday in a wetlands preserve area in Mountain View, CA. First, I scouted my route…peeking into brush…examining the most appropriate obstacles to vault over…best trees to climb. Then, I ran through the brush, jumping branches, crawling underneath, all moving very fast. I climbed trees trying not to disturb all the geese around. The people strolling looked, but I got no comments. It was only when I was sprinting out of brush after doing some fast crawls under branches that I startled a couple kissing on a bench. Oh yeah, they thought I was a freak. I felt like a kid afterward, like I had broken the rules.
Check out “movnat”
Found great link to an article in Men’s Health on Art Devany’s blog about jungle-like workouts. The name is called “movnat”…it’s the father of parkour I’d say.
I used to know a lot about fitness
I used to know all the muscle names. I used to know all about the endocrine system and all that. I used this to choose how to move and how to eat. I don’t really know if all that knowledge was really necessary. What I’ve come to is pretty simple.
Walk everyday.
Sprint occasionally.
Play games.
Lift heavy things occasionally.
Eat vegetables, meat, nuts, fruits and seeds.
Seems pretty simple. We are made to walk and run and play. We are made to eat what I wrote above. We are made this way…I could have just looked at that. I felt like I needed to know the latest information and get the blessings of gurus. I felt like it needed to be proved. It’s so simple. I think from now on, I’ll try the simple things first.